The Christmas and New Year period is the peak time of year for ditching a dud date and finding a new fling. So it’s the perfect time to revamp your online dating profile and get back in the dating game!

Online dating guru and Oasis.com CEO Dave Heysen shares his insider tips to make your profile work hard for you this party season.

DO refresh your profileThe way your profile is written can depend heavily on the mood you were in on the day you wrote it. If it’s been a few weeks since you last edited your profile, why not revisit what you wrote. Maybe there is something new to share about yourself or a part of the profile you feel like changing. And always spell-check! Spelling might not be important for you, but for some it’s a deal breaker.

DON’T follow the crowdNowadays, the online dating pond is more like a vast ocean. Don’t let yourself get lost in the sea of dates. Remember to be yourself, be original and don’t get caught up in the idea of what others expect you to be and say. If you are witty, then your profile should be witty. If you are more serious, it’s okay for your profile to be a little more serious. As long as your tone is friendly and positive, people will enjoy hearing what you have to say.

DO upload new photosYou can tell a lot about someone within seconds of looking at their profile picture, so it’s no surprise that photos are the single most important part of any online dating profile for both men and women. Make sure your profile is full of great quality, recent photos of yourself looking great – and that means smiling and having a good time. That might be a photo of you out with friends, with your family or relaxing a home – whatever you enjoy doing most. The more happy, confident and relaxed you look, the more likely you are to have success.

DON’T forget who you’re trying to impressWhile photos can be a huge help, a bad photo can also be a real hindrance. Women tend to avoid guys that upload photos of themselves in big groups of mates, holding beer cans or flexing their muscles in the bathroom. While these macho displays might impress their mates, they’re unlikely to win points in the dating scene. In the same way, women tend to upload their own awkward selfies, pulling ‘duck face’, wearing large sunglasses and too much make up – all things that frustrate men who just want to see what the woman really looks like!

DO act now!Don’t put off dating until the new year. Start now by using online dating search functions and apps to help you find potential dates in your local area. Once you locate the singles in your area, you can narrow your search by preferences and start chatting. No excuses!

While these few rules are aimed to help you navigate your way through summer, remember that online dating is supposed to be fun. So be yourself, keep your profile fresh and get involved!

Meeting your match in real life or online is so 2012. If you’re not addicted to Tinder, Fancied or soon-to-launch in Australia, Grouper, chances are you’re not Gen X & Y, single or looking to become so. Hailed as the ‘straight’ Grindr – are Tinder, Fancied and Grouper all about one night stands or long-term love?

Dating through apps is just the thing for those with short attention spans, very short attention spans.

If hanging out with friends in bars or at parties or combing through online profiles is just all too tedious for you – a tap or a swipe of your phone could be just the thing between you and meeting your one, true love. Or, at least, your one ‘you-look-pretty-alright-for-tonight’ hook-up scenario.

Tinder

What’s it all about? Tinder links to your Facebook page and notifies you, via profile shots, based on your Facebook mutual friends and interests, who is single and looking for love nearby. You like what you see? Swipe right to the green heart to register your interest. Not floating your boat? Swipe left to the red cross to say ‘not in this lifetime.’ If you both give each other a ‘green heart’ light, a conversation via the app can begin.

Tinder is the fastest growing dating app. The company is reluctant to release figures but since Tinder launched in September last year, Forbes says users have rated each other’s profiles 3.5 billion times and have been matched up 35 million times.

According to Tinder’s Australian brand manager, Joshua Metz, the app is downloaded more than 1000 times a day in Australia alone.

Pros: The app saves you from potential romantic humiliation by letting you anonymously ‘like’ or ‘reject’ your nearby suiters/users. Only if they ‘like’ you too will Tinder make an introduction and you can start communicating via the app. You can’t be randomly messaged by people you don’t know or don’t want to know.

Got some down time waiting for the bus to arrive to meet up with friends? You could potentially line up a date (or several) for that night.

Cons: By trawling through your Facebook to look for folk nearby with mutual friends and interests, the chances of stumbling across your ex; your best friend’s ex or even your second cousin is more than likely.

Your picture – and their picture – is your only chance to make an impression. Dangerous territory for folk clinging desperately to a flattering snap taken 5 years ago, especially if you actually plan to meet up in real life, at some stage, there’s going to be that awkward 3 minutes of non-recognition.

What if you accidentally swipe ‘no thanks’ when you meant to ‘green heart’ someone? You’ll never get that person back on screen. Imagine, it could’ve been your one true love…

Good for: Wanting to broaden your social circle slightly in a comfortable, non threatening way.

Not so great for: Someone who desperately believes in soulmates and hopes they will magically appear in the palm of their hand via their phone. Whilst some will be more legitimately looking for love than others, the very nature of the app makes random hook-ups and bragging rights very easy. But if that’s what you’re looking for, good luck to you.

Fancied

What’s it all about? Fancied is an Australian-based dating app launched 4 weeks ago and already boasts thousands of ‘fancies’ nationally. Aimed at the 18-35 demographic, the app is gaining popularity with users sharing the app with friends via Facebook.

Founder and CEO of Fancied, Christie Sharpe explains, “We are thrilled with the results and have 60% engagement on the app, this is mainly because users are getting matched by people they mutually like.

Like Tinder, Fancied links to your Facebook page and offers up profile shots, names and ages of potential matches who are nearby and looking for love. You can either play the ‘fancy’ game and search profiles nearby or check into a venue listed as a ‘hot spot’ for singles ready to meet.

Again, like Tinder, liking or not liking someone is kept anonymous until two ‘likes’ become one.

Pros: Using the geo-location ‘hot spot’ allows the user to know where all the fun-loving singles are mingling close by and can join accordingly.

Cons: Like Tinder, by trawling mutual friends on Facebook, the chance of your ex, your best friend’s ex or your cousin is again, a dating possibility.

Good for: The ‘push-to-maps’ feature is great for users geographically challenged to find their way to the right bar to meet their match.

Not so great for: Similar to Tinder, those looking to find their soulmate may be in luck but also exposed to some of society’s not so romantic idealists.

Grouper

What’s it all about? Originally launched in New York as a three-on-three blind dating service, Grouper is a dating app available in 20 cities across the US that will soon launch in Australia.

You sign up for Grouper, pick a specific date and time or choose the on-demand feature, choose two wingmen/besties, pay an up front yet-to-be-determined fee per person for the date and the app automatically sets you up with three others of the opposite sex.

The fee paid pays for the first round of drinks and ensures everyone actually turns up. And then it flows (or not) from there.

Grouper Director of Operations, Kristen Badal, says “We’re launching in Australia in coming months so I encourage single Aussies to sign up at joingrouper.com to find out when and where we will be happening.”

Pros: Grouper sees itself more as an app for meeting people than a dating service. In the US, it is more popular with women and has a roughly 60/40 split between women and men members.

Expanding your social circle and going on a ‘blind date’ with two of your besties takes the intimidation and safety issues out of the blind date equation.

Cons: What’s the etiquette? Do the six of you interact as a group or do you make a beeline for your favourite and start to pair off?

What if no one wants to talk to you or you get left with the third party that wasn’t really ‘into’ the blind date in the first place?

Good for: Folk who need a concierge for their social life. Can’t think of a new bar to visit? Grouper can sort that, and the company you keep, out for you.

Not so great for: If you go on the ‘blind date’ with three friends with similar tastes in the opposite sex. Bestie biffo over a bloke at the end of the night is never a good look. It gets worse if only one of you gets an SMS asking for a second date. Oh dear.

Have you tried mobile phone dating? What are your favourite dating websites or apps?

No more sloppy cyber kisses or fake inflated profiles just real people in real time!

Australia’s first video call dating has launched, www.perfectpeople.com.au.
Live video calling through your mobile phone actually has you on your first
date without leaving the comfort of your home.

Step one is to register online at www.perfectpeople.com.au create a profile, select your criteria, up load your photo a two way search is conducted and like a trusted friend you are matched with people with similar interests which are sent straight to your mobile.

If it’s a mutual match, you suggest a convenient time for your intro call, sit back and wait to accept your call and an anonymous number will call you both to for your date to begin.

Valentine’s Day is almost upon us, and it’s a day that most people either look forward to excitedly, or dread. It’s one of those few days of the year when it really hits home that you’re single. And while being single is kind of cool these days, let’s face it, who doesn’t want to receive a cute card (and if you’re lucky more!) that means you’re special in someone’s eyes?

But how can you find someone to spend Valentine’s Day with this close to the actual day? Simple – go online. It’s a woman’s world online according to RSVP, Australia’s largest singles site, where there’s a male-dominant ratio of 60 to 40. RSVP’s marketing manager, Melanie Bowman, explains that this is the case because men are used to pursuing women. “They simply take it online as an extension of their social habits,” she said.

In the past two years, online dating sites have experienced a huge boost in membership numbers and activity. In the past year alone, RSVP’s membership has grown by a massive 95%, and the site will not only celebrate its 7th birthday on Valentine’s Day, but will also welcome its 350,000th member.

According to Melanie, one major reason why online dating is experiencing such a boom is because of positive experiences from using the site. “A large number of our new members advise us that they joined the site because it was recommended by a friend,” she said. “People are talking about their experiences with RSVP and because they have had a great time using the site, their friends are jumping online too.”

Safety is another important factor in the online dating world. Reputable sites like RSVP offer an anonymous system to send emails back and forth, which means that your personal details are kept private. “You’re in complete control,” advised Melanie. “You decide who you contact and keep in contact with, you provide your email address or phone number when you want to, and you decide who to meet and when.”

RSVP doesn’t charge a joining fee, and you can search the site to your heart’s content without paying a cent. You can simply join up and wait to see who contacts you. But it is a woman’s world online after all, so why not take charge and contact that cute guy you’ve spotted? You may just end up with a Valentine’s date after all.